St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-06-14

UcNIOnS OF UllOSe If0SL l0tcIeStcu Ill luo
successful production. pavementS,
muddy streets and lowering skies could
not deter people from going to see the
performance. The city's elite turned
out in full force and in the gorgeousness
of splendor which would have done
honor to royalty. 1t was local event,
the occurrence of which st. Paul peo-
pie had been looking forward to
with eager impatience, and they
were not to be disappointed. They
came, they heard, and they went home
happy. That ''Alidor'' is a success was
the universal verdict. AS had been
predicted, the musical part of the pro-
gramme was startling revelation to the
audience. People came prepared to
hear good music, but they were not pre-
pared for the great treat In store for
them.
1t is fair criticism to say that the
hbretto of ''Alidor'' is not an extraor-
binary composition. The lines are
pleasing enough and contain a romantic
sentiment which forms substantial
framework for the Interviewing of the
most exquisite music. The plot is lit
tie monotonous, lacking i'll variety of
detail and deficient in comedy. With a
little revising competent hands these
defects could be easily remedied. But
the strong part of the opera is the mu-
steal composition. The ear that is not
pleased with this part of the perform
ance has no sense of melody. The mu-
steal feature of "Alidor" is not only
strong but it is novel. There is nothing
else III opera music which suggests
comparison. Possibly there are here
and there touches of similarity to the
"Gipsy Baron" but throughout the
whole composition is delicate strain
of most exquisite melody and
tender sentiment which beT
tokens in peculiar and striking man;
ner the fine Italian hand of the
composer. The musical illustration of
the sentiment of the ibrettO is particu-,
larly happy. The sense of the lines has:
been Incorporated into bars and spaces
i'll way to be spoken with more beauty
and force than the author of the ibrett0:
could possibly have dreamed of. From
beginning to end it is an idyllie creations
which carries the auditor along as if ins
a midsummer dream-cOntinualiy Sug{
gestive of balmy ZephyrS, fieecyvtouds.
fiecking aurelian skies, the poep,c ,eauA
ties of a rural landscape, ireRIlng
waters, deeply shaded woods, broad
valleys and the distant outlines of blue
hills, While over all hovers the spirit of
Love, warming the scene with the radi-
ance of its passion and drawing the.
soul of the shepherd youth and maidenl
into an ecStacy of bliss. This is the
picture which the composer has nmned
in soul enhancing melody. With all its
ravishing strains still the real artistic
strength of the musical composition is
in the orcheStration. This feature is
grand. 1t is doubtful whether there is
anything to SurpaSS it, and possibly not
to equal it, in opera composition.
The climaXes are worked UP with adj
inirable skill, the most effective of all
being the finale of the first act. There
is no question but that Jannotta's fame
as composer is now established. With
a little revision OF the librett0 and the
putting on of the opera with all the ac-
cessories that can be had in a New York
theater, there is every reason to believe
that Gotham will be startled when
''Alidor" is first produced in the great
metropolis.
The scene of 'sAlidor'' is laid in ril-
raj district of England in the time of
Charles H., and the event is the celebra-
ton of the shepherds May holiday.
The opening scene is a salon in the
palace of Prince Alidor, an unlucky
young sprig of royalty, who is weighed
down with the embarrassmentS which
come of over high living and the conse-
quent accumulation of debts. A flock
of creditors besiege the palace doors,
and the only hope of escape from his
embarrassmentS is by wedding the
wealthy Lady Alice, to whom he has
been betrothed but whom he has never
seen. His noble nature rebels against
a mercenary marriage, and III his deS-
peration he resolves to abandon his
oaix 81, ~, hin,cAIf fp no
shepherds in the fields. The second
scene is an apartment in the castle of
Lady Alice, who has been invited to
preside as queen over their May feSti-
val, an honor which has always been
accorded to the mistress of the castle.
The Lady Alice, who has just come
into possession Of the castle, is a
stranger to the peaSantry. She is anX-
iouS to learn something more of the
lives of her people than she would be
as the lady Of the castle. She persuades
Lirette, her female attendant, to per-
senate the Lady Alice On this
occasion, while she herself goes
to the festival in the garb of a
shepherdess. There she meets Prince
Alidor in similar disguise. and Doth,
without the knowledge of each. others
real identity, fall in love, one with the
OtuOIs lux, q itett. W iiO
assumed the gtlise of Prince Alidor, st
tracts Lirette, the assumed Lady Alice,
and they, too, have a love-making. The
third scene is the May festival in an
open country. In the center of the stage
stands a May pole. from which are SuS-
pended the usual red. white and blue
streameTS. Twenty-four children are
dancing around the pole, weaving the
scarfs into lovely plat, while the sixty
chorus people are singing the festival
song. This concludes the first act. The
opening scene in the second act is the,
open country, the May festival still in.
progress and the ceremony Of crowning1
the May Queen being celebrated. While
the shepherds sing the chorus Lirette
is crowned with flowers by Tutu. Scene
between Lirette and Tutu. In scene
third Prince Alder, Lady Alice and the
shepherds have returned and cOUrtier
enters who recognizes the real prince
and brings to him the gratifying intelli-
gence that his debts have been liqui-
dated and he is at liberty to- return to
his palace, and is also freed from his
obligations to marry the Lady Alice.
He is delighted to find that the fair
young shepherdess who has won his
heart is no other than the real Lady
Alice, and there is the usual happy de-
movement to romantic opera.
The part of Prince Alidor was sung
by Tom Karl, the richness of whose
superb tenor voice never had more de-
lightful play than in giving expression
to this romantic role. 1t is seldom that
Mr.. Karl is in better voice than last
night. He seemed to be inspired by the
occasion and injected a mellowness into
the singing which was in such sympa-
thetic accord with the sentiment of his
part that his Interpretation seemed more
like summer idyll than all opera per-
Torrance. The same was true of Miss
Marie Stones rendition. Without ques-
ton the best soprano singer in Ameri-
can opera to-day. Miss Stones interpre-